Huge US aircraft carrier, 'too big' for Portsmouth harbour, to arrive in Hampshire

The 100,000-tonne ship USS Theodore Roosevelt Credit: PA

More than 5,000 US sailors are to swamp Portsmouth as their giant aircraft carrier arrives for a five-day visit.

The 100,000-tonne ship USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is too big to enter Portsmouth Harbour, will anchor off Stokes Bay, Gosport, Hampshire, for its first port of call in its round-the-world deployment.

The ship is substantially larger than the Royal Navy's next generation of carriers which weigh in at 65,000 tonnes.

The visit forms parts of an ongoing partnership between the Royal Navy and US on carrier operations until the first of the new carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, enters service in 2017.

Among Roosevelt's 5,226 crew are six Royal Navy aircraft handlers who are honing their skills ahead of serving aboard the first of the new carriers.

And senior officers will call on Royal Navy top brass during the visit to discuss recent global operations and get an update on the UK's carrier programme.

The ship is much bigger than the Royal Navy's next generation of carriers Credit: PA

The Roosevelt is accompanied by its escort ship, the destroyer Winston S Churchill, which traditionally has a UK navigator on board to honour the ship's British connection and the post is currently held by 27-year-old Lieutenant Lynsey Sewell.

The two navies will also come face-to-face on the football field when a Theodore Roosevelt team face HMS Diamond at HMS Temeraire.

The two ships arrive on Sunday and will depart on March 27.